Enhanced Network Connectivity for a Connected Car and Onboard User Equipment

ABSTRACT

A connected car and an onboard user equipment (UE) may establish independent cellular connections and may also establish a connection between each other. The UE establishes a first cellular link between the UE and a first network, establishes a connection with a connected car, wherein the connected car has a second cellular link between the connected car and a second network, evaluates one or more conditions and declares one of the first cellular link or the connection with the connected car a primary network interface for the UE based on, at least, the one or more conditions.

PRIORITY CLAIM/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claim priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.62/923,076, entitled “Enhanced Network Connectivity for a Connected Carand Onboard User Equipment,” filed Oct. 18, 2019, the entirety of whichis incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

A connected car may be configured to establish a connection with anetwork. A driver or a passenger of the connected car may be equippedwith a user equipment (UE). The UE may also be configured to establish aconnection with a network. Thus, the connected car and the UE may eachestablish an independent network connection.

The UE may establish a further connection with the connected car. Whenpaired, the connected car may utilize resources of the UE and viceversa. Under conventional circumstances, even when the connected car'snetwork connection is of lesser quality than the UE's networkconnection, the connected car's network connection is used for networkaccess on behalf of both the connected car and the UE. Accordingly,there is a need to improve how one of the independent networkconnections is selected to provide network access to both the connectedcar and the UE.

The performance associated with a device's network connection depends ona variety of different factors including, but not limited to, thedevice's hardware and the type of service that is to be provided to thedevice by the network. Generally, the hardware of the connected car iscapable of out-performing the hardware of the UE. However, the type ofservice provided to the UE by the network may be superior to the type ofservice provided to the connected car by the network. Thus, when the UEand the connected car are paired, there may be scenarios where theconnected car's hardware is available but not utilized. Similarly, theremay be scenarios where the UE's network service is available but notutilized. Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanism that is able touse resources from both the connected car and the UE for networkconnectivity.

SUMMARY

Some exemplary embodiments are related to a processor of a userequipment (UE) configured to perform operations. The operations includeestablishing a first cellular link between the UE and a first network,establishing a connection with a connected car, wherein the connectedcar has a second cellular link between the connected car and a secondnetwork, evaluating one or more conditions and declaring one of thefirst cellular link or the connection with the connected car a primarynetwork interface for the UE based on, at least, the one or moreconditions.

Other exemplary embodiments are related to a processor of a connectedcar configured to perform operations. The operations includeestablishing a connection with a user equipment (UE), receiving anembedded subscriber identification module (eSIM) profile correspondingto the UE, establishing a network connection using the eSIM profilecorresponding to the UE, receiving data from the network over thenetwork connection and forwarding the data received from the network tothe UE via the connection with the UE.

Still further exemplary embodiments are related to a processor of aconnected car configured to perform operations. The operations includeestablishing a first connection with a first user equipment (UE),establishing a network connection, receiving a first set of data from anetwork over the network connection, forwarding the first set of datareceived from the network to the first UE via the first connection withthe first UE, collecting data usage information for the first UE,wherein the data usage information for the first UE is based on, atleast, the first set of data and reporting the data usage informationfor the first UE to a network component.

Additional exemplary embodiments are related to a user equipment (UE)having a transceiver configured to communicate with a connected car andwith a network and a processor communicatively coupled to thetransceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations includeestablishing a first cellular link between the UE and a first network,establishing a connection with the connected car, wherein the connectedcar has a second cellular link between the connected car and a secondnetwork, evaluating one or more conditions and declaring one of thefirst cellular link or the connection with the connected car a primarynetwork interface for the UE based on, at least, the one or moreconditions, wherein the primary network interface is used to accessnetwork services for both the UE and the connected car and wherein thefirst network and the second network are a same or different network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example arrangement according to the exemplaryembodiments.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary set of connected car components according tovarious exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 4 shows a method for selecting a cellular link that is to be usedfor network connectivity according to various exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 5 shows a method for using one or more resources from the UE andone or more resources from the connected car for network connectivityaccording to various exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 6 show an exemplary data flow between the connected car andmultiple onboard UEs according to various exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference tothe following description and the related appended drawings, whereinlike elements are provided with the same reference numerals. Theexemplary embodiments describe devices, systems and methods to improvenetwork connectivity for a connected car and/or an onboard userequipment (UE).

Throughout this description the term “connected car” may refer to a carthat is equipped with hardware, software and/or firmware configured toestablish one or more network connections. However, reference to aconnected car is merely provided for illustrative purposes, differententities may refer to a similar concept by a different name. Further,reference to the connected car is not intended to limit the exemplaryembodiments to cars. The exemplary embodiments may apply to any type ofvehicle (with or without a motor) that is configured to navigate withinany type of environment and equipped with hardware, software and/orfirmware configured to establish one or more network connections.

The exemplary embodiments are described with regard to a UE. However,reference to a UE is merely provided for illustrative purposes. Theexemplary embodiments may be utilized with any electronic component thatmay establish a connection to a network and is configured with thehardware, software, and/or firmware to exchange information and datawith the network. Therefore, the UE as described herein is used torepresent any electronic component.

The UE may establish a connection with the connected car. When paired,the connected car may utilize resources of the UE and vice versa. Theexemplary embodiments relate to managing the resources of the UE and theconnected car. In a first aspect, the exemplary embodiments relate toselecting the UE's network connection or the connected car's networkconnection to provide network access on behalf of both the UE and theconnected car. In a second aspect, the exemplary embodiments relate tousing one or more resources of the UE and one or more resources of theconnected car for network connectivity.

FIG. 1 shows an example arrangement 100 according to the exemplaryembodiments. The arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in theart will understand that the UE 110 may be any type of electroniccomponent that is configured to communicate via a network, e.g., mobilephones, tablet computers, smartphones, phablets, embedded devices,wearable devices, Cat-M devices, Cat-M1 devices, MTC devices, eMTCdevices, other types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. An actualnetwork arrangement may include any number of UEs being used by anynumber of users. In fact, the exemplary scenarios will be describedbelow that include multiple users being in the connected car 112 andeach user having their own UE. In the illustration of FIG. 1 , the UE110 is shown above the connected car 112. However, this is just forillustrative purposes. The UE 110 will typically be in the connected car112 with the user.

The arrangement 100 also includes a connected car 112. The connected car112 may represent any type of vehicle (with or without a motor) that isconfigured to navigate within any type of environment and equipped withhardware, software and/or firmware configured to establish one or morenetwork connections.

The UE 110 may communicate directly with one or more networks. In theexample of the arrangement 100, the UE 110 is shown as being connectedto a first radio access network (RAN) 120 via a first base station 120A.The connected car 122 may also communicate directly with one or morenetworks. In the example of the arrangement 100, the UE 110 is shown asbeing connected to a second RAN 122 via a second base station 122A. TheUE 110 network connection and the connected car 122 network connectionmay each be independent from one another and exist simultaneously.Reference to the first RAN 120, the first base station 120A, the secondRAN 122 and the second base station 122A are only intended todemonstrate that the UE 110 and the connected car 112 are each capableof establishing independent network connections. In another example, theUE 110 and the connected car 112 may each establish independentconnections to the first RAN 120 via the first base station 120A.

The RANs 120, 122 may be a portion of a cellular network that may bedeployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.).For example, the RANs 120, 122 may be a 5G new radio (NR) RAN, a LTE RANor a legacy RAN. The RANs 120, 122 may include, for example, cells orbase stations (Node Bs, eNodeBs, HeNBs, eNBS, gNBs, gNodeBs, macrocells,microcells, small cells, femtocells, etc.) that are configured to sendand receive traffic from devices (e.g., the UE 110 and the connected car112) that are equipped with the appropriate cellular chip set.

Those skilled in the art will understand that any association proceduremay be performed for the UE 110 to connect to the RAN 120 and for theconnected car 112 to connect to the RAN 122. For example, as discussedabove, the RANs 120, 122 may be associated with a particular cellularservice provider. The UE 110 and/or the user thereof has a contract andcredential information (e.g., stored on a SIM). Upon detecting thepresence of the RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit the correspondingcredential information to associate with the RAN 120. More specifically,the UE 110 may associate with a specific base station (e.g., the basestation 120A of the RAN 120). Similarly, the connected car 112 may alsobe associated with a contract and credential information (e.g., storedon a SIM). Upon detecting the presence of the RAN 122, the connected car112 may transmit the corresponding credential information to associatewith the RAN 122. More specifically, the connected car 112 may associatewith a specific base station (e.g., the base station 122A of the RAN122).

The UE 110 may establish a connection with the connected car 112. Inthis example, the UE 110 is onboard the connected car 112. However, theexemplary embodiments are not limited to a scenario in which the UE 110is located within the connected car 112. The exemplary embodiments mayalso apply to a scenario in which the UE 110 is connected to theconnected car 112 while located outside of the connected car 112.

In some embodiments, the connection between the UE 110 and the connectedcar 112 is a wired connection (e.g., via a USB connection, Lightningconnector, etc.). In other embodiments, the connection between the UE110 and the connected car 112 is a wireless connection, e.g., WiFi, WiFipeer-to-peer, Bluetooth or any other appropriate short-rangecommunication protocol. Thus, if the UE 110 and the connected car 112are within a proximity of one another (e.g., within a distance in whichWiFi or Bluetooth communications may be performed), the UE 110 and theconnected car 112 may exchange data. Throughout this description, anyreference to any particular type of connection between the UE 110 andthe connected car 112 is only provided for illustrative purposes. Theexemplary embodiments may apply to any appropriate type of connectionbetween the UE 110 and the connected car 112.

When the UE 110 and the connected car 112 are paired (using either awired or wireless connection), the UE 110 and the connected car 112 mayhave a companion relationship. In some embodiments, the UE 110 is asource device and the connected 112 is an accessory device. In otherembodiments, the connected car 112 is the source device and the UE 110is the accessory device. The accessory device may be configured toaccess network services by utilizing only the wired connection or theshort-range communication protocol without connecting to any of the RANs120, 122. For example, the UE 110 may connect to the RAN 120 and relaydata exchanged with the RAN 120 to the connected car 112 over the wiredconnection or the short-range communication pathway. In another example,the connected car 112 may connect to the RAN 122 and relay dataexchanged with the RAN 122 to the UE 110 over the wired connection orthe short-range communication pathway. In a further example, one or moreresources of the UE 110 (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, SIM, etc.)may be used with one or more resources of the connected car 112 (e.g.,hardware, software, firmware, SIM, etc.) for network connectivity. Asmentioned above, both the UE 110 and the connected car 112 may eachestablish an independent network connection that exists simultaneously,thus, the UE 110 and the connected car 112 may connect to the RANs 120,122 regardless of whether a companion relationship exists.

To provide a general example of the context in which a user may utilizethe arrangement 100, consider the following exemplary scenario. The useris driving the connected car 112 to a destination and the UE 110 isonboard. The UE 110 has established a WiFi connection with the connectedcar 112. The UE 110 has also established an independent connection tothe RAN 120 via the base station 120A and the connected car 112 hasestablished an independent network connection with the RAN 122 via thebase station 122A.

As will be described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 2 , theconnected car 112 may include one or more display devices located atvarious locations throughout the car. For example, the dashboard of theconnected car 112 may include a touchscreen. The connected car 112 maybe configured to provide a variety of different user interfaces on thetouchscreen. Each user interface may include one or more interactivefeatures.

The UE 110 and the connected car 112 may exchange information and dataover the WiFi connection to perform various tasks for the user. Forinstance, the connected car 112 may be configured to display a userinterface associated with the UE 110. This user interface may allow theuser to access data stored on the UE 110 and/or network servicesnormally available to the UE 110. Thus, the user may interact with thetouchscreen display of the connected car 112 to access data and/orservices of the UE 110.

To provide a first general example, the UE 110 may have music storedlocally. When paired with the connected car 112, an indication of themusic stored locally on the UE 110 may be displayed on the touchscreenof the connected car 112. User input received at the touchscreen of theconnected car 112 may trigger the music stored locally at the UE 110 tobe output via audio output devices included in the connected car 112.

To provide a second general example, the UE 110 may have a navigationapplication stored locally. When the UE 110 is paired with the connectedcar 112, an icon for the navigation application stored locally at the UE110 may be displayed on the touchscreen of the connected car 112. Userinput received at the touchscreen of the connected car 112 may triggerthe navigation application to launch. When launched, the navigationapplication stored locally at the UE 110 may communicate with thenetwork using the network connection of the connected car 112. Theseturn-by-turn navigation features are then output by the touchscreen ofthe connected car 112 and/or audio output devices included in theconnected car 112.

As mentioned above, in a first aspect, the exemplary embodiments relateto selecting one of the UE 110 network connection or the connected car112 network connection to provide network access on behalf of both theUE and the connected car 112. For instance, in the example providedabove, the connected car 112 network connection is used for thenavigation application. The exemplary embodiments provide variousmechanisms for determining which network connection, the UE 110 networkconnection or the connected car 112 network connection, is be utilizedwhen the UE 110 and the connected car 112 are paired. In a secondaspect, the exemplary embodiments relate to using one or more resourcesof the UE 110 (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, SIM, etc.) and one ormore resources of the connected car 112 (e.g., hardware, software,firmware, SIM, etc.) for network connectivity. The above-mentionedscenarios and examples are only provided for illustrative purposes andare not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments in any way. Theabove-mentioned scenarios and examples are only intended to provide ageneral example of the context in which a user may utilize thearrangement 100.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary set of connected car components 200 accordingto various exemplary embodiments. The set of connected car components200 will be described with regard to the arrangement 100. As mentionedabove, the connected car 112 may represent any type of vehicle (with orwithout a motor) that is configured to navigate within any type ofenvironment and equipped with hardware, software and/or firmwareconfigured to establish one or more network connections. Thus, theconnected car 112 may include a wide variety of different componentsconfigured to perform a wide variety of different tasks. The set ofconnected car components 200 relate to how the connected car 112 i)communicates with the network, ii) communicates with the UE 110 and iii)interacts with the user.

The set of connected car components 200 may include a processor 205, adisplay device 210, an input/output (I/O) device 215, a plurality ofradios 220, an antenna arrangement 225, a memory arrangement 230 andother components 235.

The display device 210 may be a hardware component configured to showdata to the user. The connected car 112 may include one or more displaydevices 210. For example, the dashboard of the connected car 112 mayinclude a display device 210. In another example, a display device 210may be integrated into one or more headrests. The I/O device 215 may bea hardware component that enables the user to enter inputs. Theconnected car 112 may include one or more I/O devices 215. For example,the display device 210 and the I/O device 215 may be integrated togethersuch as a touchscreen. In another example, the I/O device 215 may berepresented as one or more buttons included the dashboard and/orsteering wheel.

The plurality of radios 220 may be hardware components configured toestablish a connection with the RAN 122 (e.g., a 5G NR RAN, an LTE RAN,a legacy RAN, etc.) and a connection to the UE 110 using a short-rangecommunication protocol (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.). Accordingly, theplurality of radios 220 may operate on a variety of differentfrequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutive frequencies). Forexample, the connected car 112 may establish a connection with the UE110 over the 2.4 GHz band and/or the 5 GHz band. The antenna arrangement225 may include one or more antennas configured to send and receivewireless traffic for the plurality of radios 220.

The processor 205 may be configured to execute a plurality of enginesfor the connected car 112. For example, the engines may include anin-vehicle infotainment (IVI) engine 240 and a network connectivityengine 245. The IVI engine 240 may manage how and when multimedia data(e.g., audio, video, text, graphics, etc.) is presented to the user viaone or more components from the set of connected car components 200. Thenetwork connectivity engine 245 may collect data associated with theconnected car 112 network connection and/or the UE 110 networkconnection.

The above referenced engines each being an application (e.g., a program)executed by the processor 205 is only exemplary. The functionalityassociated with the engines may also be represented as a separateincorporated component of the connected car 112 or may be a modularcomponent coupled to the connected car 112, e.g., an integrated circuitwith or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit mayinclude input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry toprocess the signals and other information. The engines may also beembodied as one application or separate applications. In addition, insome connected cars, the functionality described for the processor 205is split among two or more processors such as a baseband processor andan application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implementedin any of these or other configurations of a connected car.

The memory arrangement 230 may be a hardware component configured tostore data related to operations performed by the connected car 112. Theother components 235 may include, for example, a SIM, an audio inputdevice, an audio output device, ports to electronically connect to otherdevices (e.g., the UE 110), sensors to detect conditions of theconnected car 112, etc.

The other components 140 may also include an eCommerce module thatincludes a sensor and a communication interface. The sensor may beconfigured to detect eCommerce entities. The communication interface mayfacilitate communications between the connected car 112, the UE 110,eCommerce entity and the cellular data plan provider such that the usermay use the cellular data plan for payment. For example, the eCommercemodule may be configured to detect toll booths and allow users to usetheir cellular data plan for toll payment.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary UE 110 according to various exemplaryembodiments. The UE 110 will be described with regard to the networkarrangement 100 of FIG. 1 . The UE 110 may represent any electronicdevice and may include a processor 305, a display device 310, aninput/output (I/O) device 315, a plurality of radios 320, a memoryarrangement 325 and other components 330. The other components 330 mayinclude, for example, a SIM, an audio input device, an audio outputdevice, a battery that provides a limited power supply, one or moreantennas, a data acquisition device, ports to electrically connect theUE 110 to other electronic devices (e.g., the connected car 112),sensors to detect conditions of the UE 110, etc.

The processor 305 may be configured to execute a plurality of enginesfor the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a connected carconfiguration engine 335 and a network connectivity engine 340. Theconnected car configuration engine 335 may manage the relationshipbetween the UE 110 and the connected car 112. For example, the connectedcar configuration engine 335 may provide data that is used by theconnected car 112 to generate a user interface that allows the user toaccess data stored on the UE 110 and/or network services normallyavailable to the UE 110 when interacting with the connected car 112. Thenetwork connectivity engine 345 may collect data associated with theconnected car 112 network connection and/or the UE 110 networkconnection.

The above referenced engine being executed by the processor 305 is onlyexemplary. The functionality associated with the engines may also berepresented as a separate incorporated component of the UE 110 or may bea modular component coupled to the UE 110, e.g., an integrated circuitwith or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit mayinclude input circuitry to receive signals and processing circuitry toprocess the signals and other information. The engines may also beembodied as one application or separate applications. In addition, insome UEs, the functionality described for the processor 305 is splitamong two or more processors such as a baseband processor and anapplication processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented inany of these or other configurations of a UE.

The plurality of radios 320 may be hardware components configured toestablish a connection with the RAN 120 (e.g., a 5G NR RAN, an LTE RAN,a legacy RAN, etc.) and a connection to the connected car 112 using ashort-range communication protocol (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.).Accordingly, the plurality of radios 320 may operate on a variety ofdifferent frequencies or channels (e.g., set of consecutivefrequencies). For example, the UE 110 may establish a connection withthe connected car 112 over the 2.4 GHz band and/or the 5 GHz band.

The memory arrangement 325 may be a hardware component configured tostore data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The displaydevice 310 may be a hardware component configured to show data to a userwhile the I/O device 315 may be a hardware component that enables theuser to enter inputs. The display device 310 and the I/O device 315 maybe separate components or integrated together such as a touchscreen.

FIG. 4 shows a method 400 for selecting a cellular link that is to beused for network connectivity according to various exemplaryembodiments. The method 400 will be described with regard to the UE 110of FIG. 3 , the connected car 112 of FIG. 2 and the arrangement 100 ofFIG. 1 .

Consider the following exemplary scenario in which the user is drivingthe connected car 112 to a destination and the UE 110 is onboard. The UE110 has established a network connection with the RAN 120 via the basestation 120A to form a first cellular link. The connected car 112 hasalso established a network connection with the RAN 122 via the basestation 122A to form a second cellular link. The first cellular link andthe second cellular link may be separately established and may existsimultaneously. The method 400 will be described with regard to the UE110 selecting between the first cellular link and the second cellularlink for network connectivity. However, the exemplary embodiments arenot limited to the UE 110 making this selection and may also apply tothe connected car 112 making this selection.

In 405, the UE 110 establishes a connection to the connected car 112. Inthis example, the connection between the UE 110 and the connected car112 is a WiFi connection. In other embodiments the connection may be awired connection or a wireless connection in accordance with anyappropriate short-range communication protocol.

As mentioned above, when paired, the user may interact with theconnected car 112 to access data stored on the UE 110 and/or networkservices normally available to the UE 110. In this configuration, eitherthe first cellular link (e.g., the connection between UE 110 and basestation 120A) or the second cellular link (e.g., the connection betweenthe connected car 112 and the base station 122A) may be used for networkconnectivity. To use the first cellular link, the UE 110 communicatesdirectly with the RAN 120. To use the second cellular link, the UE 110may communicate with the connected car 112 via the WiFi connection andthe connected car 112 may communicate with the RAN 122 on behalf of theUE 110.

As will be shown below, when the first cellular link is to be used, theUE 110 declares the first cellular link as the primary network interfaceand the WiFi connection as the secondary network interface. When thesecond cellular link is to be used, the UE 110 declares the firstcellular link as the secondary network interface and the WiFi connectionas the primary network interface. During operation, the UE 110 will usethe primary network interface to communicate with the network. In someembodiments, if a connection issue occurs that prevents the UE 110 fromcommunicating with the network via the primary network interface, the UE110 may use the secondary network interface to communicate with thenetwork.

In 410, the UE 110 identifies a predetermined condition. Thispredetermined condition may indicate to the UE 110 that the UE 110 is todeclare a primary network interface. The predetermined condition may bebased on any of a plurality of different factors, including but notlimited to, a timer, a schedule, initially establishing a connectionbetween the UE 110 and the connected car 112, launching an application,user input, a change in UE 110 and/or connected car 112 geographiclocation, a handover, a tracking area update (TAU), information receivedfrom the network, information stored on the UE 110 or the connected car112 regarding previous network interactions under similar circumstances,a combination thereof, etc. However, any reference to a particularfactor triggering the UE 110 to declare a primary network interface isonly provided for illustrative purposes. The exemplary embodiments maybe triggered to declare a primary network interface based on anyappropriate factor being identified at any instance.

In 415, the UE 110 determines whether the first cellular link ispreferred. Typically, the network services provided by the carrier forthe UE 110 are superior to the network services provided by the carrierfor the connected car 112. Thus, the selection mechanism may beconfigured with a preference towards the first cellular link (e.g., thenetwork connection between the UE 110 and the RAN 120). In someembodiments, this preference may be explicitly set by the user, thenetwork, one or more carriers or any combination thereof. In otherembodiments, this preference may be implicitly indicated based onprevious interactions with the network under similar circumstances,previous instances of using a particular feature or application undersimilar circumstances, information stored or collected by the UE 110,information stored or collected by the connected car 112, informationreceived from the network, etc. If the first cellular link is preferred,the method 400 continues to 420.

In 420, the UE 110 determines whether a data plan between an accountassociated with the UE 110 and a carrier satisfies a predeterminedcondition. A carrier may charge the account associated with the UE 110based on the amount of data used by the UE 110 in the downlink and/oruplink direction. The predetermined condition may indicate to the UE 110that using the first cellular link for network connectivity may causethe account associated with the UE 110 to be charged an unreasonablefee. The predetermined condition may be satisfied when the accountassociated with the UE 110 has an unlimited data plan or has an amountof unused available data that exceeds a predetermined threshold. In someembodiments, this predetermined condition may also be satisfied byexplicit user input. When the predetermined condition is not satisfiedthe method 400 continues to 425.

In 425, since the account associated with the UE 110 is in danger ofbeing charged an unreasonable fee for data services, the UE 110 declaresthe WiFi connection as the primary network interface. Subsequently, theUE 110 utilizes the second cellular link to exchange data with thenetwork.

Returning to 420, when the predetermined condition is satisfied themethod 400 continues to 430. In 430, the UE 110 determines whethercellular parameters associated with the first cellular link satisfy apredetermined condition. This predetermined condition may indicate tothe UE 110 that the first cellular link is of sufficient quality and/orcapable of sufficient performance and thus, may be declared the primarynetwork interface. How the first cellular link is to be evaluated isdescribed in detail below with regard to 445. When the predeterminedcondition is satisfied, the method 400 continues to 435.

In 440, the UE 110 declares the first cellular link the primary networkinterface. Since the UE 110 is configured to have a preference towardsthe first cellular link and the account associated with the UE 110 isnot in danger of being subject to an unreasonable fee, the firstcellular link may be declared the primary network interface regardlessof the state of the second cellular link.

Returning to 430, when the predetermined condition is not satisfied, themethod 400 continues to 440. In 440, the UE 110 determines whethercellular parameters associated with the second cellular link satisfy apredetermined condition. This predetermined condition may indicate tothe UE 110 that the second cellular link is of sufficient quality and/orcapable of sufficient performance and thus, the WiFi connection may bedeclared the primary network interface. How the second cellular link isto be evaluated is described in more detail below with regard to 450.

If the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the method 400continues to 435. As mentioned above, in 435, the UE 110 declares thefirst cellular link the primary network interface. Since the UE 110 isconfigured to have a preference towards the first cellular link, theaccount associated with the UE 110 is not in danger of being subject toan unreasonable fee and the second cellular link is not of sufficientquality and/or capable of sufficient performance the UE 110 may declarethe first cellular link the primary network interface despite the radioconditions associated with the first cellular link failing to satisfythe predetermined condition in 430. Subsequently, the UE 110 utilizesthe first cellular link to exchange data with the network.

Returning to 435, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, themethod 400 continues to 425. As mentioned above, in 425, the UE 110declares the WiFi connection the primary network interface. Although theUE 110 has a preference towards the first cellular link and the useraccount associated with the UE 110 is not in danger of being charged anunreasonable fee, the UE 110 declares the WiFi connection the primarylink based on the radio conditions associated with the second cellularlink satisfying the predetermined threshold in 440. Subsequently, the UE110 utilizes the second cellular link to exchange data with the network.

Returning to 415, if there is no preference, the method 400 continues to445. In 445, the UE 110 evaluates the cellular parameters correspondingto the first cellular link. The parameters corresponding to the firstcellular link may be based on any of a variety of different factors. Forexample, one factor may relate to the type of base station/RAN (e.g., 5GNR, LTE, legacy, etc.) the UE 110 is currently camped on. Another factormay relate to radio conditions associated with the currently camped basestation. The radio conditions may include, but are not limited to,reference signal received power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI),reference signal received quality (RSRQ),signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR), received signal strengthindicator (RSSI), energy to interference ratio (ECIO), received signalcode power (RSCP), etc. A person of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand how the measurement data associated with these radioconditions may be collected. Another factor may relate to the radio loadas reported by the base station or estimated by the UE 110. Further, theuplink data rate may be considered. The uplink data rate may bedetermined based on parameters such as, but not limited to, powerheadroom and characteristics associated with scheduling requests betweenthe UE 110 and the currently camped base station. Other factors mayinclude, estimated available bandwidth, type of data plan and availableunused data. However, reference to any particular cellular parameter ismerely provided for illustrative purposes, the exemplary embodiments mayapply to any appropriate factor.

In 450, the UE 110 evaluates the cellular parameters corresponding tothe second cellular link. The parameters corresponding to the secondcellular link may be based on any of a variety of different factors. Forexample, one factor may relate to the type base station/RAN (e.g., 5GNR, LTE, legacy, etc.) the connected car 112 is currently camped on.Another factor may relate to radio conditions associated with thecurrently camped base station. The radio conditions may include, but arenot limited to, reference signal received power (RSRP), channel qualityindicator (CQI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ),signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR), received signal strengthindicator (RSSI), energy to interference ratio (ECIO), received signalcode power (RSCP), etc. A person of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand how the measurement data associated with these radioconditions may be collected. However, reference to any particularcellular parameter is merely provided for illustrative purposes, theexemplary embodiments may apply to any appropriate factor. It shouldalso be understood that the UE 110 may receive the cellular parameterscorresponding to the second cellular link via the connection (e.g.,short range connection) with the connected car 112, e.g., thehardware/software of the connected car 112 may perform the appropriatemeasurements for the second cellular link and provide this informationto the UE 110 for the purposes of the comparison.

When evaluating the cellular parameters associated with the firstcellular link in 445 and the cellular parameters associated with thesecond cellular link in 450, the UE 110 may consider the type ofapplication (e.g., streaming multimedia data, navigation, video call,audio call, etc.) that is to be utilized. For instance, one of the firstcellular link or the second cellular link may be capable of providingbetter performance for an audio call and the other cellular link may becapable of providing better performance for streaming multimedia data.Further, when evaluating the cellular parameters associated with thefirst cellular link in 445 and the cellular parameters associated withthe second cellular link in 450, the UE 110 may also referenceinformation received from the application layer and/or transport layer.This information may include indications of previously experience stallsor errors, end-to-end latency, estimated bandwidth, real-time protocolerasures, an indication of a broken link (e.g., the first cellular linkor the second cellular link), push notification failures, transportcontrol protocol (TCP) connection failure attempts, TCP round trip time(RTT), etc. However, reference to any particular type of informationreceived from the application layer and/or the transport layer is merelyprovided for illustrative purposes, the exemplary embodiments may applyto any appropriate type of information associated with the applicationlayer and/or the transport layer.

Returning to the method 400, in 455, the UE 110 compares the cellularparameters corresponding to the first cellular link and the cellularparameters corresponding to the second cellular link. In 460, the UE 110declares one of the first cellular link or the WiFi connection as theprimary network interface based on the comparison. The exemplaryembodiments are not limited to any particular criteria for thiscomparison and UE 110 may decide between the first cellular link and thesecond cellular link using any appropriate basis.

The connected car 112 may travel from a first location to a secondlocation. During the trip between these locations, the cellularenvironment relative to the connected car 112 and the UE 110 may change.For example, at the first location the connected car 112 and the UE 110may be within the coverage area of a first base station and at thesecond location the connected car 112 and the UE 110 may be within thecoverage area of a second base station. Similarly, at the first locationthe connected car 112 and the UE 110 may initially be at a locationwithin coverage area that provides sufficient cellularquality/performance and at the second location the connected car 112 andthe UE 110 may be at the edge of the same coverage area. Further, duringthe trip, the connected car 112 and the UE 110 may be used to perform avariety of different tasks (e.g., streaming music, performing a voicecall, turn-by-turn navigation, etc.) To ensure that the primary networkinterface provides sufficient quality and/or performance for aparticular task, the method 400 may be an ongoing process. Thus, asindicated in 410, the UE 110 may be triggered to declare a primarynetwork interface based on any appropriate factor being identified atany instance.

The method 400 was described with regard to a single UE 110. However,the exemplary embodiments are not limited to a single UE 110 connectingto the connected car 112. When there are multiple UEs onboard, themethod 400 may be performed for each of the onboard UEs. Thus, there maybe scenarios in which more than one UE uses their respective directcellular link as their primary network interface and more than one UEuses their respective connection to the connected car 112 as theirprimary network interface.

As indicated above, in certain scenarios, the hardware of the connectedcar 112 may be capable of out-performing the hardware of the UE 110. Toprovide an example, the connected car 112 antenna arrangement 225 may besuperior to the antenna included in the UE 110. To provide anotherexample, the connected car 112 may have a more powerful processor 205than the processor 305 of the UE 110. However, the connected car 112 maybe configured with a data plan that is not capable of providing the samequality of experience as the data plan for the UE 110. Thus, there maybe scenarios in which the connected car 112 hardware is available butnot utilized. There may also be scenarios in which the data plan of theUE 110 is available but not utilized. The exemplary embodimentsdescribed below relate to using one or more resources of one or moreonboard UEs (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, SIM, etc.) with one ormore resources of the connected car 112 (e.g., hardware, software,firmware, SIM, etc.) for network connectivity.

In a first example, using resources of the UE 110 and the connected car112 may include using the hardware of the connected car 112 as a layer 1(L1)/layer 2 (L2) repeater. For instance, the UE 110 may transmitinformation and/or data at a low power mode. This information and/ordata may be received by the connected car 112 and forwarded to thenetwork (at a higher power) on behalf of the UE 110.

FIG. 5 shows a method 500 for using one or more resources from the UE110 and one or more resources from the connected car 112 for networkconnectivity according to various exemplary embodiments. The method 500will be described with regard to the UE 110 of FIG. 3 , the connectedcar 112 of FIG. 2 and the arrangement 100 of FIG. 1 .

As will be described in more detail below, the method 500 relates tousing the hardware of the connected car 112 and the data plan of the UE110 for network connectivity. This may include configuring the connectedcar 112 with an embedded SIM (eSIM) profile corresponding to the UE 110.From the network perspective, the eSIM profile may make it appear as ifthe UE 110 is communicating with the network. However, the connected car112 is actually participating in a signaling exchange with the network.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a SIMcontains information that is used by a device to establish a networkconnection. For example, the SIM may include an international mobilesubscriber identifier (IMSI) that may be used for authentication withthe network provider. However, reference to an IMSI is merely providedfor illustrative purposes, a SIM may include a wide variety of differenttypes of information that different networks or entities may refer to bydifferent names. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments may apply to aSIM that contains any type of information used by the device toestablish a network connection.

The connected car 112 may include an eSIM. The eSIM is an embeddedintegrated circuit and is not intended to be physically removed. Incontrast, a SIM is an integrated circuit that is capable of beingphysically inserted and removed from a device. The eSIM of the connectedcar 112 may be provisioned with an eSIM profile. In one embodiment, theeSIM profile may be a clone of the SIM of the UE 110. In anotherembodiment, the eSIM profile and the SIM of the UE 110 may be associatedwith the same telephone number and/or account on the network side. Inthis example, the SIM of the UE 110 may be a primary profile while theeSIM of the connected car 112 is a secondary profile. The SIM of the UE110 may be associated with multiple different secondary profiles. Thecarrier may bill the usage of the primary profile and one or moresecondary profiles to the same account. Thus, when provisioned with theeSIM profile corresponding to the UE 110, the UE 110 and the connectedcar 112 may be associated with the same telephone number and/or account.However, reference to the connected car 112 being equipped with an eSIMand the UE 110 being equipped with a SIM is merely provided forillustrative purposes. The UE 110 and the connected car 112 may each beequipped with an eSIM and/or a SIM.

In 505, the UE 110 establishes a connection to the connected car 112. Inthis example, the connection between the UE 110 and the connected car112 is a WiFi connection. In other embodiments the connection may be awired connection or a wireless connection in accordance with anyappropriate short-range communication protocol.

In 510, the connected car 112 is provisioned with an eSIM profilecorresponding to the UE 110. In some embodiments, the eSIM profileinformation is stored locally on the UE 110 and provided to theconnected car 112 over the WiFi connection. In other embodiments, theeSIM profile may be retrieved (directly or indirectly) by either the UE110 or the connected car 112 from a network server. A person of ordinaryskill in the art would understand how the information of the eSIMprofile is retrieved and provided to the connected car 112.

In 515, the connected car 112 communicates with the network using thehardware of the connected car 112 via a cellular link. For example, theconnected car 112 may participate in a signaling exchange with one ofthe RANs 120, 122 using the antenna arrangement 225 and one of theplurality of radios 220.

In 520, the connected car 112 establishes an internet protocol (IP)based connection with the network using the eSIM profile correspondingto the UE 110. Thus, from the network perspective, the network isconnected to the UE 110. However, it is actually the connected car 112hardware that is maintaining a cellular link with a base station. Sincethe eSIM associated with the UE 110 is being utilized to connect to thenetwork, the UE 110 may transition its cellular baseband processor intoa low power mode. This ensures that cellular traffic is sent andreceived via the connected car 112 and not to the UE 110.

In 525, the connected car 112 forwards data received from the networkover the cellular link to the UE 110 via the WiFi connection andforwards data received from the UE 110 over the WiFi connection to thenetwork via the cellular link. Thus, in this example, the hardwareresources of the connected car 112 and the SIM/network resources of theUE 110 are used for network connectivity.

In some embodiments, after the connection between the UE 110 and theconnected car 112 is terminated, the eSIM profile associated with the UE110 may remain stored within the memory arrangement 230 of the connectedcar 112. This may be convenient for the user if the user owns both theUE 110 and the connected car 112. However, to ensure that unauthorizeduse of the data plan associated with the UE 110 does not occur, the UE110 may deactivate the eSIM profile associated with the UE 110 beforeterminating the connection to the connected car 112. The connected car112 may also be configured to deactivate the eSIM profile associatedwith the UE 110 when the connected car 112 determines that theconnection between the UE 110 and the connected car 112 no longerexists.

In some embodiments, instead of relying on the connected car 112 toperform all the baseband processing, the baseband processing may besplit between the connected car 112 and the UE 110. Thus, the connectedcar 112 may perform baseband processing on a first portion of theprotocol stack and the UE 110 may perform baseband processing on asecond portion of the protocol stack. This split baseband approach isenabled by the high-speed/low latency connection between the UE 110 andthe connected car 112.

As a security measure, during the split baseband approach, the UE 110may implement the NAS module that performs authentication. In addition,the PDCP may be implemented by the UE 110 or the higher layer PDCP(e.g., ciphering, integrity protection) may be implemented by the UE 110while the lower layer PDCP (e.g., re-ordering, robust headercompression) may be performed by the connected car 112. However, anyreference to any particular protocol stack operation being performed byeither the UE 110 or the connected car 112 during the split basebandapproach is merely provided for illustrative purposes. The exemplaryembodiments may split the baseband processing between the connected car112 and the UE 110 in any appropriate manner.

The UE 110 may be one of multiple onboard UEs. The connected car 112 maybe configured with an eSIM profile associated with each of the onboardUEs. In some embodiments the connected car 112 maintains an independentrelationship with each of the UEs. Thus, the data plan associated with aparticular UE will account for all of the data used by that UE. In otherembodiments, the network services associated with one of the UEs may beprovided to the other onboard UEs via the connected car 112. Thus, thedata plan associated with a particular UE may account for some of thedata used by a different onboard UE.

FIG. 6 show an exemplary data flow 600 between the connected car 112 andmultiple onboard UEs according to various exemplary embodiments.Consider the following exemplary scenario, a first user is driving theconnected car 112 to a destination and the first user's UE 110 isonboard. The connected car 112 also includes a second user, the seconduser's UE 602, a third user and the third user's UE 604. Like the UE110, the UE 602 and the UE 604 may represent any type of electroniccomponent that is configured to communicate via a network.

Each of the UEs 110, 602, 604 may have an independent WiFi connectionwith the connected car 112. Thus, data is exchanged between the UEs 110,602, 604 and the connected car 112 using a communication interface 610.In this example, since the communication interface 610 uses WiFi, datareceived from the UEs 110, 602, 604 are provided to the IP layer 620 forprocessing. Data that is to be provided to the UEs 110, 602, 604 via thecommunication interface 610 may first be provided to the IP layer 620 sothe data may be properly formatted to be transmitted via WiFi.

Data for the UE 110 is provided by the IP layer 620 to a first proxy630. The first proxy 630 may be a driver, within the connected caroperating system, configured to manage communications on behalf of theUE 110. Similarly, data for the UE 602 is provided by the IP layer 620to a second proxy 632 and data for the UE 604 is provided by the IPlayer 620 to a third proxy 634.

Data from the first proxy 630 is then processed in accordance withprotocol stack layers 640. The protocol stack layers 640 may include,but are not limited to, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), theradio link layer (RLC) and the medium access control (MAC) layer. Aperson of ordinary skill in the art would understand the servicesprovided by these protocol stack layers when data is flowing towards theantenna arrangement 225 and when data is flowing towards the UEs 110,602, 604. Similarly, data from the second proxy 632 is then processed inaccordance with protocol stack layers 642 and data from the third proxy634 is then processed in accordance with protocol stack layers 644.Reference to the protocol stack layers is merely provided forillustrative purposes. Physical (PHY) layer processing and processingrelated to any other type of layer in the open systems interconnection(OSI) model may also occur.

Data from the protocol stack layers 640 is the provided to a transceiver650. For example, if the data is to be sent to a 5G NR RAN, thetransceiver 650 may be a 5G NR radio included within the plurality ofradios 220. Similarly, data from the protocol stack layers 642 isprovided to a transceiver 652 and data from the protocol stack layers644 is provided to a transceiver 644. In some embodiments, each of thetransceivers 640, 642, 644 may be the same transceiver. In otherembodiments, one or more the transceivers 640, 642, 644 may beassociated with a different RAN. Data is provided from the transceivers640, 642, 644 to a filter 660. Data is then provided from the filter 660to the antenna arrangement 625 where it is propagated towards a basestation. The exemplary data flow 600 is not intended to limit theexemplary embodiments in any way. Different entities may refer tosimilar concepts by different names. The exemplary data flow 600 is onlyprovided to demonstrate how a single antenna arrangement 225 may be usedon behalf of multiple onboard UEs 110, 602, 604.

The connected car 112 may be configured with a non-shared operating modeand a shared operating mode. In the non-shared operating mode, theconnected car 112 will send traffic associated with a particular UE toits corresponding carrier network. For example, with regard to the FIG.6 , data that is to be transmitted by the antenna arrangement 225 of theconnected car 112 on behalf of the UE 110 will be sent to the carrier ofthe UE 110.

In the shared operating mode, the connected car 112 may send trafficassociated with a one UE to a carrier associated with a different UE.This allows one UE located at a geographic location in which the carrierassociated with that UE does not provide service, to have networkconnectivity at that geographic location through the carrier associatedwith a different UE.

For example, consider the following exemplary scenario, the connectedcar 112 has established a first cellular link with a first carrier onbehalf of the UE 110, a second cellular link with a second carrier onbehalf of the UE 602 and a third cellular link with a third carrier onbehalf of the UE 604. When data that is to be transmitted on behalf ofthe UE 110 is received by the connected car 112, the connected car 112may determine which cellular link (e.g., the first cellular link, thesecond cellular link or the third cellular link) is to be utilized totransmit that data. The selection of the cellular link may be based onfactors such as, but not limited to, the quality of each link, the costof each link and service availability. In some embodiments, theconnected car selects a single link. In other exemplary embodiments, theconnected car 112 may select multiple cellular links and multiplex alldata using the selected cellular links.

When multiple UEs are connected to the connected car 112, the connectedcar 112 may establish an aggregated virtual data bearer with one of thecarriers. The aggregated virtual data bearer may collate all datarequests from the multiple UEs connected to the connected car 112. Theconnected car 112 may select a carrier for the aggregated virtual databearer based on factors such as, but not limited to, energy per bit,cost per bit, service availability, information received from thenetwork, measurement data collected by the connected car 112,measurement data collected by the UE 110, historical data regardingprevious interactions with a carrier under similar circumstances, etc.Thus, with reference to FIG. 6 , a single bearer may be used by theconnected car 112 for communications performed on behalf of all the UEs110, 602, 604. From the protocol stack perspective, the applicationlayer may be used for operations such as carrier selection, handover anddata recovery for the aggregated virtual data bearer by the carriers ora broker of the connected car 112 subscription. The application layermay implement protocols such as, multipath TCP (MPTCP), IP security(IPsec) and PDCP for managing the aggregated virtual data bearer.

The exemplary embodiments described above with regard to FIG. 5 and FIG.6 relate to using the data plan associated with one or more UEs fornetwork connectivity. Alternatively, the data plan of the connected car112 may be used for network connectivity. To improve upon theconventional data plan typically associated with the connected car 112,the exemplary embodiments may implement a connected car data planbroker. The connected car data plan broker may partner with multiplecarriers to maximize the coverage area. The connected car 112 may beconfigured to report data usage information for each UE to the connectedcar data plan broker. The connected car data plan broker may providebilling and account services on behalf of all users.

To provide an example, a user may be a passenger in the connected car112. The user may connect their UE 110 to the connected car 112. Theconnected car 112 may provide the UE 110 with network connectivity usingboth the hardware of the connected car 112 and the data plan of theconnected car 112. At the conclusion of the ride, the connected car 112may report the data usage of the UE 110 to the connected car data planbroker. The connected car data plan broker may then bill the user of theUE 110 for the data usage.

To provide application layer mobility in this multi-carrier network, theconnected car data plan broker may implement overlay networking on topof multiple carriers. Overlay network can be built using a MPTCP proxyand/or a virtual private network (VPN) server using mobile IPsec(MOBIKE) which is an extension of internet key exchange version 2(IKEv2) that provides mobility for VPN connections.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-describedexemplary embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software orhardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardwareplatform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, forexample, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, aWindows OS, a Mac platform and MAC OS, a mobile device having anoperating system such as iOS, Android, etc. In a further example, theexemplary embodiments of the above described method may be embodied as aprogram containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computerreadable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on aprocessor or microprocessor.

Although this application described various embodiments each havingdifferent features in various combinations, those skilled in the artwill understand that any of the features of one embodiment may becombined with the features of the other embodiments in any manner notspecifically disclaimed or which is not functionally or logicallyinconsistent with the operation of the device or the stated functions ofthe disclosed embodiments.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from specific and legitimatesources. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances,this gathered data may include personal information data that uniquelyidentifies or can be used to identify a specific person. Such personalinformation data can include demographic data, location-based data,online identifiers, SIM information, telephone numbers, email addresses,home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level offitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information,exercise information), date of birth, or any other personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefitof users. For example, the personal information data can be used todeclare a primary network interface, provision the connected car with aneSIM profile and perform billing/accounting services for data usage.Accordingly, use of such personal information data improves the userexperience by enabling carriers to track and bill for data usage.

The present disclosure contemplates that those entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities would beexpected to implement and consistently apply privacy practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. Such informationregarding the use of personal data should be prominent and easilyaccessible by users and should be updated as the collection and/or useof data changes. Personal information from users should be collected forlegitimate uses only. Further, such collection/sharing should occur onlyafter receiving the consent of the users or other legitimate basisspecified in applicable law. Additionally, such entities should considertaking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to suchpersonal information data and ensuring that others with access to thepersonal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations that may serve to imposea higher standard. For instance, in the US, collection of or access tocertain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, suchas the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);whereas health data in other countries may be subject to otherregulations and policies and should be handled accordingly.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing identifiers, controlling the amount orspecificity of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at city levelrather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g.,aggregating data across users), and/or other methods such asdifferential privacy.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data. For example, tracking datausage may be based on aggregated non-personal information data or a bareminimum amount of personal information.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made in the present disclosure, without departingfrom the spirit or the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intendedthat the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of thisdisclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalent.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A processor of a connected car configured toperform operations, comprising: establishing a connection with a userequipment (UE); receiving an embedded subscriber identification module(eSIM) profile corresponding to the UE; establishing a networkconnection using the eSIM profile corresponding to the UE; receivingdata from the network over the network connection; and forwarding thedata received from the network to the UE via the connection with the UE.13. The processor of claim 12, wherein the connection with the UEcomprises a wired connection or a short-range wireless connection. 14.The processor of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:establishing a connection with a further UE; receiving an eSIM profilecorresponding to the further UE; and establishing a further networkconnection using the eSIM profile corresponding to the further UE. 15.The processor of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:receiving data from the UE that is to be transmitted to the network; andtransmitting the data received from the UE to the network over thefurther network connection.
 16. The processor of claim 12, wherein theoperations further comprise: persistently storing the eSIM profile ofthe UE after the connection has been terminated; and deactivating theeSIM profile of the UE after the connection has been terminated.
 17. Theprocessor of claim 12, wherein establishing the network connectionincludes performing a portion of operations to establish the networkconnection, wherein a remainder of the operations to establish thenetwork connection are performed by the UE. 18-25. (canceled)
 26. Theprocessor of claim 12, wherein the network connection is a cellularconnection.
 27. A method performed by a connected car, comprising:establishing a connection with a user equipment (UE); receiving anembedded subscriber identification module (eSIM) profile correspondingto the UE; establishing a network connection using the eSIM profilecorresponding to the UE; receiving data from the network over thenetwork connection; and forwarding the data received from the network tothe UE via the connection with the UE.
 28. The method of claim 27,wherein the connection with the UE comprises a wired connection or ashort-range wireless connection.
 29. The method of claim 27, furthercomprising: establishing a connection with a further UE; receiving aneSIM profile corresponding to the further UE; and establishing a furthernetwork connection using the eSIM profile corresponding to the furtherUE.
 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: receiving data fromthe UE that is to be transmitted to the network; and transmitting thedata received from the UE to the network over the further networkconnection.
 31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: persistentlystoring the eSIM profile of the UE after the connection has beenterminated; and deactivating the eSIM profile of the UE after theconnection has been terminated.
 32. The method of claim 27, whereinestablishing the network connection includes performing a portion ofoperations to establish the network connection, wherein a remainder ofthe operations to establish the network connection are performed by theUE.
 33. The method of claim 27, further comprising: receiving data fromthe UE that is to be transmitted to the network; and transmitting thedata received from the UE to the network over the network connection.34. A connected car, comprising: a memory arrangement; and a processorconfigured to: establish a connection with a user equipment (UE);receive an embedded subscriber identification module (eSIM) profilecorresponding to the UE; store the eSIM profile in the memoryarrangement; establish a network connection using the eSIM profilecorresponding to the UE; receive data from the network over the networkconnection; and forward the data received from the network to the UE viathe connection with the UE.
 35. The connected car of claim 34, whereinthe connection with the UE comprises a wired connection or a short-rangewireless connection.
 36. The connected car of claim 34, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: establish a connection with afurther UE; receive a further eSIM profile corresponding to the furtherUE; store the further eSIM in the memory arrangement; and establish afurther network connection using the eSIM profile corresponding to thefurther UE.
 37. The connected car of claim 36, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: receive data from the UE that is to betransmitted to the network; and transmit the data received from the UEto the network over the further network connection.
 38. The connectedcar of claim 34, wherein the eSIM profile is persistently stored to thememory arrangement and processor is further configured to: deactivatethe eSIM profile of the UE after the connection has been terminated. 39.The connected car of claim 34, wherein establishing the networkconnection includes performing a portion of operations to establish thenetwork connection, wherein a remainder of the operations to establishthe network connection are performed by the UE.